All that has been on my mind, and surely yours, for the past week, is our beloved Tata Madiba. The tears have been hanging off my lashes and my heart has been so heavy. Watching the television and seeing that smile, the familiar dance, arms by his side, the radiance that beams from his very being, and wondering, what now?
Who will guide our nation now? Who will be our leader, our inspiration to be better, do better and live better? The answer, fellow South Africans, indeed fellow humans, is for US to be the light. We need to be called to pick up Tata's baton and run with his spirit and his love and forgiveness. We must make him proud, and know that the things he stood for in life are surely the things he stands for on the other side of consciousness.
This weekend we will lay the father of our nation to rest. Two weeks after that, we will lay 2013 to rest. For many of us it has been a year of hardships, with this being the very cherry on the cake. Losing somebody who was our compass and our light. So now, with 2014 beckoning, its up to us. WE must be the compass, WE must be the light. WE need to bring happiness to the hearts of everybody we encounter, love unconditionally, and turn not just our nation but the nations of the world back around.
South Africa I love you. Thank you for our Madiba. Thank you for our mountains, our seas, our animals. Thank you for the people we are so privileged to live and work with, side by side. Thank you for the ceaseless opportunities which WE must embrace and run with. Thank you for me. Without you, I would be a shell. Hayley Hynd would be made of different fillings to the delicious smorgasbord that sizzles inside. She would not have her passion, her persistence, or her iron will to succeed and to make a difference to all she encounters.
In the words of my beautiful mentor, or boyfriend. Viva Africa. Viva South Africa. And to end with, VIVA TATA! We love you, we miss and mourn you. Hamba Kahle Madiba.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Friday, November 8, 2013
Be Present
The words on my heart and on my mind this week, this day, this moment are...... be present.
What does this mean? What am I saying? I am saying that too many people waste their time looking forwards to the future, or over their shoulders to their past................... neglecting their present.
Being present is about taking the time to breathe..... to observe your surroundings, a moment to look at beautiful nature around you, or to listen to the birds outside the window.
It is about knowing the importance of the time you are given now!
This also translates into your work, your family, your friends, your time with your lover or partner, your studies. Each and every avenue and facet of your life requires you to be absolutely present each and every second.
So start with your breathing, your awareness of your environment and surroundings. Lose the cellphone when you are with the people who matter. Learn to give one hundred percent of your time to your work, and see how much sooner you complete tasks, with ease and flow.......
Feel the stress and strain leave you, as you remind yourself, constantly at first, to BE PRESENT.
Enjoy life, nobody is getting out alive, and tomorrow isn't guaranteed to any of us.
Be grateful, be thankful, surround yourself with amazing people, and be the best you can be, NOW.
Flow, be present, and be kind to one another!
Hayley
What does this mean? What am I saying? I am saying that too many people waste their time looking forwards to the future, or over their shoulders to their past................... neglecting their present.
Being present is about taking the time to breathe..... to observe your surroundings, a moment to look at beautiful nature around you, or to listen to the birds outside the window.
It is about knowing the importance of the time you are given now!
This also translates into your work, your family, your friends, your time with your lover or partner, your studies. Each and every avenue and facet of your life requires you to be absolutely present each and every second.
So start with your breathing, your awareness of your environment and surroundings. Lose the cellphone when you are with the people who matter. Learn to give one hundred percent of your time to your work, and see how much sooner you complete tasks, with ease and flow.......
Feel the stress and strain leave you, as you remind yourself, constantly at first, to BE PRESENT.
Enjoy life, nobody is getting out alive, and tomorrow isn't guaranteed to any of us.
Be grateful, be thankful, surround yourself with amazing people, and be the best you can be, NOW.
Flow, be present, and be kind to one another!
Hayley
Friday, October 11, 2013
Company Documents and the Necessary Pieces
Did you know that many employers put too much information into employment contracts? This overshare of information can often lead to employers getting themselves into hot water when it comes down to discipline, termination and the like.
Remuneration should NEVER be inserted into an employment contract as this is one of the things that changes most often, it should be put in as an addendum.
All employees should be issued with a handbook when joining a new company, and this should detail the nitty gritty of the organisation, and be updated once a year or whenever major changes occur within the organisation.
With the LRA changing, all employers should ensure that they are fully aware of these and arm themselves with the education that will protect their organisation.
I attended a seminar on this very topic yesterday and found it extremely useful.
Should you have queries or need further information please let me know and I will assist you with pleasure.
Be kind to one another.
Remuneration should NEVER be inserted into an employment contract as this is one of the things that changes most often, it should be put in as an addendum.
All employees should be issued with a handbook when joining a new company, and this should detail the nitty gritty of the organisation, and be updated once a year or whenever major changes occur within the organisation.
With the LRA changing, all employers should ensure that they are fully aware of these and arm themselves with the education that will protect their organisation.
I attended a seminar on this very topic yesterday and found it extremely useful.
Should you have queries or need further information please let me know and I will assist you with pleasure.
Be kind to one another.
Monday, September 30, 2013
The Gift of Mentorship
Mentorship, for those of you who have not been blessed enough to have a mentor of your own, or who have yet to discover the true meaning of the word, is described by Wikipedia as:
a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. However, true mentoring is more than just answering occasional questions or providing ad hoc help. It is about an ongoing relationship of learning, dialogue, and challenge. The person in receipt of mentorship may be referred to as a protégé (male), a protégée (female), an apprentice or, in recent years, a mentee.
"Mentoring" is a process that always involves communication and is relationship based, but its precise definition is elusive.
This all sounds GREAT! I had always heard the term. Understood what it meant, in essence. And yet I never sought a mentor out for myself. I don't think I ever truly understood the worth in the process.
This is, until I had an experience earlier this year that brought me into contact with some amazing business women. One of them took the most incredible interest in me as a person, and as a business woman. I have been in regular contact with her and have made so many changes both to myself and my business, and also my mindset and environment. It has, singlehandedly, changed my life.
You may still be doubtful, and wondering 'how'?
Well, once you stop and ponder it, its quite simple. This is a successful business person, one who may have started their own organisation, or run one of behalf of others. This, by definition, is somebody older than you, and age automatically indicates more extensive life experience.
This is somebody who can see you for who and what you are, with no previous bias or knowledge, as you may perhaps have when dealing with a mom, dad, aunt, uncle, or any other older, successful family member. They can therefore point out your shortcomings, identify your strengths, assist you in a game plan to shed your weaknesses, and all in all transform you from a mere caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly!
Make no mistake, change is hard. Its uncomfortable and challenging. But I have found this to be one of the biggest relationships in my life. So much so that I call my Magical Mentor my boyfriend :)
Additionally though, although so many people could be mentors in our beautiful country, many are not. Perhaps it is their skill level when it comes to transferring their knowledge. But, I have decided, in the wake of my Mentoring Manifestation, that VCA needs to get involved with training more people to be able to give the gift that keeps on giving, and I am therefore developing a Mentorship Programme - watch this space!
Be kind to one another.
And to my 'boyfriend', you have changed my world, you have changed our country, and the amount of lives you have and continue to touch is staggering. Thank you for seeing the beauty and the potential inside me, and may you be blessed beyond measure. You are incredible. Viva my boyfriend VIVA!
Friday, September 20, 2013
The Its My Biz Dream
Have you ever heard of a show called ‘Its My Biz’ on eTV? Well, I am about to educate you in a very real and meaningful way!
It is a small-business reality makeover series where, every week, a new small business owner opens up his or her business to the scrutiny of the It’s My Biz panel of experts.
This season they jazzed things up a bit and they arranged for the most amazing group of Thought Leaders to spearhead conversations between the Business Owners and themselves.
I entered this competition as Nedbank are our business bankers and my business partner thought it would be an amazing opportunity. Never in a million years did we think we would be chosen to participate.
About two weeks after submitting our application documents to the organising company, we were called in for an interview, where we needed to do an eight minute presentation to a panel of judges and then a one minute to camera after a question and answer session. The excitement was palpable and we got straight onto the arduous task of a new wardrobe!
Monday morning came and we marched right in, heads held high, the first company to audition. Cameras exploded, lights caught fire – we were magnetic! We were so proud of ourselves for an amazing audition and we thought nothing more.
Two weeks later, we had a call to say that out of over 1500 applications, WE WERE SUCCESSFUL! I was incredulous that the judges had such faith in me and in our capabilities and couldn’t wait to get started. A crew of 15 arrived the next Monday at our small office in Benoni, including a makeup artist, a caterer, amazing cameramen, and a staff compliment of saints. They spent the entire day searching for my good side and I was only too willing as a participant. Eventually at around four that afternoon, it was a wrap. Exhausted and exhilarated we headed home.
Then the next Wednesday was my day in studio. Wow. My thought leaders were Amy Kleinhans-Curd, Jenna Clifford and Donna McCallum. I had a very definite Fairy Godmother watching over me that day! The insight, the nuggets of wisdom and the once in a lifetime opportunity was overwhelming and something I will never forget, as well as invaluable in lieu of transformation of our business! Since then I have been fortunate enough to be mentored by the Fabulous Ms Clifford, chatted to the Beautiful Ms Kleinhans-Curd, and am studying under the Magical Ms McCallum.
Our episode aired on 8 August 2013 at 17h30 and it was amazing. Not just because it was my thirty minutes of fame, but because it was the culmination of a long journey, something to be so proud of, and a piece of art. Also because it marked the start of a brand new journey for VCA, and for Hayley.
Our episode aired on 8 August 2013 at 17h30 and it was amazing. Not just because it was my thirty minutes of fame, but because it was the culmination of a long journey, something to be so proud of, and a piece of art. Also because it marked the start of a brand new journey for VCA, and for Hayley.
This is living proof of
the manifestation on wonderful things to come. Good things don’t come to those
who wait, they come to those who pursue them and never ever stop! Never ever
let anybody tell you that you can't. You can, and you will.
Be kind to one another.
Be kind to one another.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Goldman-Sachs GIBS 10000 Women Experience
How many of you have heard about this phenomenal intervention? If you haven't, let me shed some light on it for you.
10,000 Women is a five-year program to provide business and management education to underserved female entrepreneurs around the world. The initiative was founded on research conducted by the World Bank, Goldman Sachs, and others, which found that expanding education and developing the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in emerging economies – especially among women – is one of the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more shared economic growth. One of the seminal research reports that inspired 10,000 Women was Womenomics, a study written by Kathy Matsui, a managing director and chief strategist in Goldman Sachs in Tokyo. Her report examined the potential impact of expanding workforce opportunities for women in Japan. “The ideas behind 10,000 Women, in many ways, began in Japan,” said Masanori Mochida, President of Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. “Realizing that the connection between women and economic growth was extraordinarily powerful, we came up with 10,000 Women – a confluence of our knowledge of markets, our desire to spur growth and our tradition of service.”
The program has been running for the last 5 years, this is the final year, and in South Africa, the concluding cohort, 7, is well under way.
I first heard about the program on 702, and saw various articles about it in the media. This year, my curiosity finally got the better of me, and i researched it. In typical Hayley style, the day I enquired was the last day ever in South Africa, for applications. I managed to submit everything with a second to spare, and then I sat back, and waited. Anxiously. Nervously. The more I contemplated the program, the more I HAD to be on it! Along the way I met some amazing ladies who had been on previous cohorts, one being the beautiful and phenomenal Eugenie Drakes, who made my hunger for this journey even greater!
Eventually, after what seemed like decades, I got the email I had been waiting for. My application had been successful! I had been hand selected, by a committee in London, to participate! I was so thankful and so very proud!
The day of orientation arrived. So nervous. Palms sweating, pulse racing, head held high and concentrating on my breathing, I walked through the doors of GIBS. Here, my journey would begin. I had arrived. Somehow I just knew that my quest for knowledge, and thirst for growth, would be realised ten fold!
On my first morning I was fortunate enough to make some awesome friends. Angela Blakeway, who is the owner and Managing Director of Event Marche, Bridget Van Oerle, owner and Managing Director of Buz Publicity, and Peta-Lee Woolf, owner and Managing Director of Peta-Lee.
These ladies all were so well spoken, so well dressed, and I thought wow.......... how can I even hope to keep up in the company of all of this muchness?!
The orientation was fantastic. Turns out, while we had to do our 30 second elevator pitch, that we were all equally awed and enamored by each other! The fantastic, successful, brilliant women we were, was being subdued by our alter egos, telling us that we just were not up to scratch.
Well, after a month on this program, late nights, ridiculously early mornings, being hot, being cold, being on fire and being plain inspired, I can say with ENORMOUS confidence that I am honoured for being chosen\. That I will make both VCA, and GIBS, innately proud of what I will accomplish over the next few months as I continue learning, and in the years and decades to come as I implement my learning, employ more people, upskill our community and help to grow South Africa!
So THANK YOU for believing in me, GIBS and Goldman-Sachs, enough to show me how much I should be believing in me!
Be kind to one another.
Hayley
10,000 Women is a five-year program to provide business and management education to underserved female entrepreneurs around the world. The initiative was founded on research conducted by the World Bank, Goldman Sachs, and others, which found that expanding education and developing the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in emerging economies – especially among women – is one of the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more shared economic growth. One of the seminal research reports that inspired 10,000 Women was Womenomics, a study written by Kathy Matsui, a managing director and chief strategist in Goldman Sachs in Tokyo. Her report examined the potential impact of expanding workforce opportunities for women in Japan. “The ideas behind 10,000 Women, in many ways, began in Japan,” said Masanori Mochida, President of Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. “Realizing that the connection between women and economic growth was extraordinarily powerful, we came up with 10,000 Women – a confluence of our knowledge of markets, our desire to spur growth and our tradition of service.”
The program has been running for the last 5 years, this is the final year, and in South Africa, the concluding cohort, 7, is well under way.
I first heard about the program on 702, and saw various articles about it in the media. This year, my curiosity finally got the better of me, and i researched it. In typical Hayley style, the day I enquired was the last day ever in South Africa, for applications. I managed to submit everything with a second to spare, and then I sat back, and waited. Anxiously. Nervously. The more I contemplated the program, the more I HAD to be on it! Along the way I met some amazing ladies who had been on previous cohorts, one being the beautiful and phenomenal Eugenie Drakes, who made my hunger for this journey even greater!
Eventually, after what seemed like decades, I got the email I had been waiting for. My application had been successful! I had been hand selected, by a committee in London, to participate! I was so thankful and so very proud!
The day of orientation arrived. So nervous. Palms sweating, pulse racing, head held high and concentrating on my breathing, I walked through the doors of GIBS. Here, my journey would begin. I had arrived. Somehow I just knew that my quest for knowledge, and thirst for growth, would be realised ten fold!
On my first morning I was fortunate enough to make some awesome friends. Angela Blakeway, who is the owner and Managing Director of Event Marche, Bridget Van Oerle, owner and Managing Director of Buz Publicity, and Peta-Lee Woolf, owner and Managing Director of Peta-Lee.
These ladies all were so well spoken, so well dressed, and I thought wow.......... how can I even hope to keep up in the company of all of this muchness?!
The orientation was fantastic. Turns out, while we had to do our 30 second elevator pitch, that we were all equally awed and enamored by each other! The fantastic, successful, brilliant women we were, was being subdued by our alter egos, telling us that we just were not up to scratch.
Well, after a month on this program, late nights, ridiculously early mornings, being hot, being cold, being on fire and being plain inspired, I can say with ENORMOUS confidence that I am honoured for being chosen\. That I will make both VCA, and GIBS, innately proud of what I will accomplish over the next few months as I continue learning, and in the years and decades to come as I implement my learning, employ more people, upskill our community and help to grow South Africa!
So THANK YOU for believing in me, GIBS and Goldman-Sachs, enough to show me how much I should be believing in me!
Be kind to one another.
Hayley
Monday, August 19, 2013
WILL YOU BE FINE OR FINED?
Employment Equity is not
something which companies should take lightly. When the Employment Equity
Amendment Bill becomes a reality, companies could face fines of between
R1.5-million (for having no previous contraventions), up to R2.7-million
(for four previous contraventions in respect of the same provision within three
years). For most companies this would have serious repercussions. Businesses
are currently pleading for the red tape to be cut and an easing of the labour
laws, however there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the decision that
needs to be made by the National Economic Development and Labour Council.
One of the key aspects that the
Department of Labour looks at when doing an audit is whether or not there is an
Employment Equity committee in place, how they were elected onto the committee,
how often the committee meets, were minutes taken, etc. All of the
documentation pertaining to this is extremely important and needs to be
flawless. Are you aware of what documentation needs to be in place in order to
ensure that you are compliant? Have you ensured that you have created and
monitored the required actions when it comes to this year’s Employment Equity
submission?
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